2025 Mission Report

Photo and art by Margie Guyot

MIS S IO N R EPORT

2025

www.grassriver.org

A New Space For Natural Play

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2025

Some of our youngest explorers enjoy the new natural playground during a Family Playgroup

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EDUCATION MISSION

t Grass River, slowing down sometimes looks like a crawl through the woods, laughing, and learning through play. This year, GRNA took a major step toward connecting children and families more deeply with the outdoors through the first phase of a new Natural Playground. Unlike traditional playgrounds filled with plastic and metal, this interactive, nature-based play and learning space blends seamlessly into the surrounding landscape.

Built with natural materials like wood and cedar logs, it invites imaginative, active, and educational play inspired by nature itself.

One of the featues of the playground is a whimsicle play house

The idea for the Natural Playground first took shape in 2022 when the Elk Rapids District Library approached Grass River about developing an outdoor learning space in memory of a beloved staff member Becky Travis. Around the same time, our team recognized a meaningful gap—while Grass River serves thousands of visitors each year, the natural area lacked a dedicated play space designed specifically for

• Charlie Polzin, Board Chair • James Hook, Vice Chair • Mindy Lewin, Treasurer • Chris Hale, Secretary • Gillian Cobb Niemisto • James Costello • Joe Fischer • Gary Knapp • Rachel Payne • Steve Springsdorf

STAFF

• Jenn Wright, Executive Director • James Dake, Education Director • Emma Fitzgerald, Conservation Director • Laurie Boccia, Finance and Administration Manager • Lee Maynard, Development Coordinator • Brian Thelen, Land and Facilities Director • Sarah Simon, Education & Outreach Coordinator • Anne Drake, Naturalist • Kate Hofmann, Naturalist • Arlene Westhoven, Naturalist • Mitch Pietryga, Naturalist

2025 NATURE EDUCATION INTERNS • Leah Haveson • Gabby Hockenberger • Emma Mertz • Erin Pieske

2025 RIVER AMBASSADORS • Kennedy Case • Kendall Fischer • Isabelle Borden

COUNTY LIAISON • Terry VanAlstine

children to explore and interact with the natural world. With initial funds from the Library, a committee of regional professionals—including educators, naturalists, landscape architects, engineers, and community members—came together to design a space that would reflect both creativity and community expertise.

Located beside the Grass River Center, the new playground occupies a well-loved spot already familiar to our summer campers for fort building and unstructured play. The final conceptual design features six themed “play pods,” each offering a unique way for children to explore, problem-solve, and connect with nature. The first play pod completed is for children ages 2-5.

The Natural Playground will serve children, families, and schools across the region. Teachers can now incorporate the space into environmental education field trips, and families can enjoy a safe, engaging area that encourages both independent exploration and shared outdoor experiences.

With seating areas nearby, the playground is also a place for community gathering and connection.

Getting creative in the “kitchen”

Beyond its immediate fun, the Natural Playground represents something larger—a reimagining of play as a powerful tool for environmental learning. It addresses a growing need for children to reconnect with the natural world, provides access to outdoor play, and strengthens community partnerships that make this kind of project possible. We have already begun hosting monthly Family Playgroups in collaboration with the Great Start Collaborative.

As the laughter of children fills the air, this new space stands as a testament to what happens when creativity, collaboration, and a shared love for nature come together.

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2026 Summer Camp

Registration Opens Wednesday March 11 at Noon! w w w.grassriver.org /summer- camp

A summer camper exploring the new play area

Building Connections

On the Water

Two of our river ambassadors at Wednesday Night at River Street in Elk Rapids

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hen you drift along the Grass River, it’s easy to see how every ripple, reed, and reflection connects — and this summer, our new River Ambassador Program helped deepen those connections between people and place.

In its first year, the River Ambassador Program— guided by the Grass River Adaptive Management Plan—focused on both community engagement and data collection to better understand and care for our waterways.

In 2025, three River Ambassadors joined our team, recording recreational user behavior on the river and hosting tabling events throughout the summer. These ambassadors led hands-on activities that highlighted the importance of environmental stewardship and the role each of us plays in keeping the river healthy.

Get involved!

Volunteer Opportunities at

www.grassriver.org

Our river ambassadors spent time paddling the river, collecting data and interacting with the public

A crowd favorite was the “scat and fur” matching game, which featured realistic fake scat from several species paired with corresponding animal furs. Watching both kids and adults hesitate to pick up the silicone scat never failed to entertain! Other activities included a stream water table, aquatic insect displays with microscopes, and a dragonfly craft.

Altogether, the River Ambassadors connected with around 1,110 people over the summer.

The Grass River is a scenic passageway from Lake Bellaire to Clam Lake, enjoyed by locals and visitors

The Grass River is cherished by both locals and visitors—whether as a peaceful destination or as a scenic passage to Torch Lake. One of the most frequent concerns we hear from river users is about boat speeds and the wakes they create. To address this, we set out to collect baseline data that could guide future education and outreach efforts.

Over the course of the summer, the ambassadors spent 51 hours observing and recording data on 757 boats. The goal was to better understand how people are using the Grass River and to identify patterns in boating behavior. While speed was the main focus (Figure 1), data were also collected on banking and other activities along the river (Figure 2).

Boat speeds were categorized into four groups: “True No Wake,” “Slow But Creating Wake,” “Going Above No Wake,” and “Speeding.” This detailed breakdown provided valuable insight into how recreationists use and experience the Grass River, helping us plan for even more effective education and stewardship efforts in the years ahead.

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no wake

creating wake

Expanding

Access

The view from the new Finch Creek overlook

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or many visitors, slowing down at Grass River begins the moment they reach the boardwalk.

In 2025, that experience expanded even further.

Grass River Natural Area is now hard at work on the final 0.63 miles of boardwalk, the last major step in completing our fully accessible trail system through the wetlands. Construction is underway and anticipated to be finished by spring or summer 2026, marking the culmination of years of community-driven effort to make Grass River welcoming and accessible to all.

A new accessible kayak launch at the dock

This newest section connects seamlessly with the boardwalk segment that opened earlier in 2025 — already a visitor favorite. Stretching 2,050 feet (0.39 miles), the completed section provides safe, comfortable access to the Grass River dock and includes an ADA-accessible walkway with two ramped observation platforms. Visitors can pause on a scenic bridge spanning Finch Creek or rest at one of the new seating areas while enjoying the sights and sounds of the wetland. The enlarged dock, featuring a universally accessible kayak launch, has also opened new opportunities for paddlers of all abilities.

The new section has been embraced by people of all ages and backgrounds. Groups from the Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility in Bellaire and Cordia senior residential community in Traverse City have made special trips to enjoy the improved access and tranquil setting. Their visits highlight the heart of this project—ensuring that

everyone, regardless of mobility or age, can safely explore and connect with nature at Grass River.

People of all ages and abilities have been enjoying the new boardwalk

Currently, GRNA features 7.5 miles of trails, including 1.26 miles of boardwalks that allow visitors and program participants to experience our diverse wetland habitats up close. These enhancements build upon earlier improvements, such as the Sedge Meadow boardwalk renovation completed in 2018, which set the precedent for accessibility and safety upgrades. Visitors continue to share their appreciation for the smooth, secure surfaces and widened pathways that make exploring the wetlands easier and more enjoyable for all.

Each new phase of the Grass River Boardwalk Project brings us closer to a shared goal: ensuring that the beauty of northern Michigan’s wetlands can be experienced by everyone. With the final section nearing completion, we look forward to unveiling a fully connected, universally accessible boardwalk system in 2026—a lasting investment in both our community and the natural world we all cherish.

• One of the four Antrim Writers Series panels installed along the boardwalk

Water, Words,

& Art A

s visitors make their way along Grass River’s newest boardwalk to the Finch Creek overlook, they’ll find more than just beautiful scenery waiting for them. Four new interpretive signs now line the path, transforming a quiet walk through the wetland into a journey of art, reflection, and connection.

Each sign features original writings from visiting authors who participated in the 2024–2025 Antrim Writers Series, paired with vibrant

artwork by local artist Samantha Hall. The result is a moving collaboration between nature, language, and visual art—a celebration of how creativity and the natural world intertwine.

The project grew out of a shared vision among regional partners including the Elk Rapids District Library, Bellaire Public Library, Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology, Shanty Creek Resorts, Bee Well Mead & Cider, Bos Wine, Michigan Humanities, and the leadership of Helen RaicaKlotz. Together, these organizations helped bring local writers and artists into the landscape itself, where their work now invites visitors to slow down, read, and reflect along the way to the river.

At the trail’s end, the Finch Creek overlook offers a serene pause point—a place to take in the rippling water, birdsong, and the surrounding wetlands that inspired the words and images along the boardwalk. Like so many projects at Grass River, this installation blends art, community, and conservation, offering visitors a chance to experience the land through fresh eyes.

The new signage complements all of our recent accessibility improvements that make this section of trail and overlook welcoming to all. Whether you come for a quiet moment by the water or to enjoy the creativity of our region’s artists and writers, the Sedge Meadow Trail now offers an experience that speaks to both heart and mind— an ever-changing connection between people, wildlife, and this special place.

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“...You can make it your mission to fix the world, and that’s good, but it helps to lean over the wood railing sometimes and observe the water do what it does, its swerve of patterns. Things are taken care of that way, in the long run. This affair of living, short and passionate as it seems, meanders its way down the stream to link up with others at the bend, no longer itself, exactly, but not the end.”

- Fleda Brown A writing sample from author Fleda Brown with accompanying artwork by Samantha Hall

PO Box 231 Bellaire, MI 49615 www.grassriver.org

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